


To Walk the Path

by Phenex_Cortmar_Stone



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Humor, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Psychological Torture, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-07
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2017-12-22 17:49:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/916222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phenex_Cortmar_Stone/pseuds/Phenex_Cortmar_Stone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ayel has a lot of choices to make.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by niksthename. Thank you so so much!

His boot-steps faintly echoed through the _Narada_. Ayel was upset at Nero in more than one way. First, he still wanted to go back and destroy Earth, and second there was no reason to keep the young doppelganger of the ambassador. The Kirk brat had come aboard with Spock to disable the drill once again. He got away with Pike, but Spock was not so lucky.

Pain coursed through his abdomen where Kirk had shot him. Ayel steadied himself against a wall. When he'd fallen, he was on the medical deck and was able to patch himself up, before he had passed out. When he came to, three days had passed and a myriad of horror. The horror was not his. When he began his search of the ship, the medic had stumbled upon the broken and bleeding young Vulcan.

"Why is he chained up in there? Our vengeance has nothing to do with--" Nero's fist then collided into Ayel's midriff, tearing open the wound again.

"I have just about had it with you and your insolence." And with that, Nero left to terrorize Spock some more.

He took a deep breath and continued his trek to where Spock was chained up. Nijil was there waiting for him. Her face was pained and her voice strained, "I don't know how much more abuse he can take." Ayel just shrugged and shook his head.

"We just need to keep him in one piece until that brat shows up again, and you know he will. That's just how Kirk is...I just hope he comes better prepared next time."

He keyed in the entry code and entered. The previous times the two had come to tend to his injuries, the Vulcan had looked up at them, but this time he didn't. Nijil and Ayel ran up to him, worried that he was dead. Ayel held up his scanner and let out a sigh of relief. "He's just passed out." It took nearly two hours to patch him back up, but apparently Nero wasn't the only one taking out his frustration on the kid. It seemed as if the rest of the crew had decided to visit. Beating him obviously wasn't enough anymore, either. Both he and Nijil were sick when they saw the blood and semen trailing down his thighs.

Just as he was packing up his tools, Spock looked up at him. "Why are you helping me?" his words croaked out and sounded harsh and raw. He had screamed so much.

Nijil simply started crying and left. Ayel hung his head, "Because..." He didn't really know why, just that he had to. When he looked up, Spock looked taken aback. Apparently Ayel was crying and he didn't realize it until then, he angrily wiped his tears away and gently pressed his lips to Spock's forehead. The Vulcan let out a small whimper at the gentle contact. "When your human brat gets here, I'm going to knock some sense into him...He should never have let you come aboard." Before Spock could reply, he stood up and turned on his heel and left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Gore

The ship lurched violently, "That must be the _Enterprise_." Ayel whispered to himself before banging on the bulkhead again. Nero had found out about the care Ayel and Nijil were giving Spock and locked them in their respective quarters. Ayel found himself truly hating the man his best friend and brother had become. He could hear hurried footsteps just outside his quarters. He returned to banging on the bulkhead, "Get me out of here! He's going to kill him!" Panic rose as Nero pushed his thoughts onto Ayel. He could see what vile acts Nero was performing on Spock. He screamed at the top of his lungs "Open the door!"

He barely heard the muffled "Stand back." He covered his head as his quarters filled with a shower of sparks and a huge plume of black smoke. Someone had detonated charges in the bulkhead, that came down with a deafening thud. "Goddammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a demo man. What did you expect?"

Ayel blinked up at the man with a strange accent and then at Kirk. Kirk simply stared at him, "Hey, I thought I killed you."

Ayel, now on the move, grabbed a hold of the doctor and shouted behind him, "Yeah, well, you missed."

At one point he had let go of McCoy, but he and Kirk still followed, right on Ayel's heels.

Ayel punched in the key-code, nothing happened. The other Starfleet officers, that had come aboard with Kirk, crowded around the door, placing charges. As soon as the bulkhead crashed down, everything became a flurry of phaser and disruptor shots. Only the gods know what went through Ayel's mind before he acted. When McCoy had turned to them, Nero was sprawled on the ground, throat slit and dagger plunged in his heart.

The walls and floor were painted an olive green, Romulan and Vulcan blood everywhere, but mostly Spock's. The young Vulcan was still chained up, but his back was flayed open from being flogged, and his guts lay scattered on the floor with intestines still pouring out of the deep gash in his abdomen. McCoy was cussing a blue streak as Ayel gently (well, as gently as possible) undid the cuffs around Spock's wrists.

The sight of his brother raping Spock caused Ayel to completely snap and now he was running on auto-pilot, eyes glazed. He aided McCoy in getting Spock on the gurney and started emergency procedures. Being on a mining vessel, Ayel had seen a lot critical injuries, but this...this was something else entirely. He didn't remember telling Kirk where to find Nijil, or telling him how to set the _Narada's_ self-destruct sequence, but he did.


	3. Chapter 3

McCoy had to admit it, he wouldn't have been able to save Spock had it not been for the Romulan knowing where most of his insides went. None of the Vulcans on board were healers, so they were no help at all, aside from Ambassador Sarek. Spock had nearly been exsanguinated and apparently T-negative was a rare blood type. The ambassador passed out at the sight of his son so mangled. Sarek was definitely on an emotional overload, he lost his planet, his friends, his beloved and most cherished wife, and now almost his son.

Fourteen hours later, Spock was labeled in critical yet stable condition. McCoy sat down at his desk and poured himself a glass of bourbon and one for Ayel. Ayel tiredly sat down across from the doctor. "Well, I still have no idea where that little pink bladder thing goes, but who knows, maybe it does go under the liver like you suggested." Ayel gave the man a faint smirk at his attempt at humor. He was worried about the young Vulcan. Not so much from the physical and emotional trauma as he was what hidden and unknown things his brother did. Nero had the _Touch_ and the drugs just made him all the stronger.


	4. Chapter 4

Everything is a bright blur, with muffled voices. Spock closed his eyes as soon as he opened them. He was not where he had been. The madman was no longer in his head or his body. He wasn't cold anymore. The pain...no, the pain was still there, but just a throbbing ache. Why did it feel like his organs weren't quite right? "Where am I?" his voice was all but gone, a harsh, near-silent whisper.

"You are at California Pacific in San Francisco, California, Terra." This man had a deep resonating voice that sounded vaguely familiar. "Mr. Spock, I am Doctor Jabilo M'Benga, do you remember me?"

 _So that's who you are_ , "Yes." M'Benga was the first human to become a vulcanoid specialist in medicine, and thank the gods for that. Out of the few Vulcan survivors, there had been only two healers to survive, and barely so. There were at least two other men in the room. "Who else?"

"Who else do you think, you pointy eared bastard!" Spock let a faint smirk slide across his features; McCoy. "You had me and Jim worried sick. If it weren't for this other green-blooded hobgoblin here, you be playing a harp right about now."

Spock took a deep shuddering breath, "Doctor, I fail to see how I would be in any condition to play an instrument as I was near dead."

"Goddammit, Spock." Spock had opened his eyes in time to see McCoy throw his hands up in exasperation. "Well, I think it's safe to say that he'll be fine." And with that he left with Doctor M'Benga, who had just finished up taking vitals and had found them satisfactory.

His gaze now darted between the renegade cadet and the Romulan medic. Jim looked like he had just swallowed a bug and Ayel was practically hovering beside him.

The silence stretched for what seemed an eternity, though was merely 2.35 minutes. It was Spock who shattered the silence, "How long has it been...since we had beamed aboard?"

Jim shifted nervously before he found his voice. "Nearly a month."

Spock nodded slowly, it could have been worse. _How, how could it possibly been any worse_ , I could have died, _how is that worse than living with this_ , it shows I am strong and I have friends willing to fight for me.

Ayel could pick up the echo of his brother's voice ringing in Spock's head. He gently reached out and touched the back of Spock's hand. "Do you want me to stay or..." Jim's sudden question startled both Vulcanoids.

James T. Kirk has seen a lot of fucked up shit in his life, mainly on Tarsus IV, but what he saw back on the _Narada_ was...so much worse. It was like the entire crew was there to watch a show. It was just plain demented. He and Bones killed most of them, the rest, security took out. But with Ayel, he looked like he was torn and then - _snap_ \- Nero's throat was slit and he was shoved aside with a dagger stuck in him and dead as a doornail. The blood, who knew that a person could have that much blood in them. Truth was, Jim had no idea what to do about Spock.

Spock saw that Kirk wasn't in fact a cadet anymore, but a Starfleet Captain. "Captain Kirk, if I make you uncomfortable, you may leave at anytime."

Kirk's mouth dropped open for a split second before speaking up again. "Look I don't want you downing yourself, ya got that. I just don't know what to do okay. You did nothing wrong." Spock looked down at his hand when he felt it lifted into Ayel's palm. He could feel guilt, sorrow, compassion, hope, and something else he couldn't quite name for it was so faint through the touch.

He couldn't fight the tears that were coming, they streamed freely down his face. "I do not know what to do either." He extended his other hand towards Jim. Uncertainty, anger, confusion, camaraderie, and understanding flooded his senses. Between the two men, Spock knew he was important and cared for and about. Everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5

Sarek regarded the man sleeping in the cafeteria calmly. He was not sure what to make of him. The Romulan was part of the reason he had lost his planet and wife, yet he was also the reason his son was alive. The ambassador spoke on behalf of Ayel when Starfleet wanted to imprison him for his part of the destruction of Vulcan.

"Indeed, he did take part in it. However, he had feared for his life and was helpless against the tyranny of Nero. He is not an innocent, nor is he guilty. He acted in self-preservation."

Sarek still didn't know why he lied to Starfleet, and wasn't entirely sure if he did. He quietly approached Ayel, wondering he should nudge him awake or not. It wasn't like he knew what to say to the man. Sarek opted to sit across from him and watch the steady rise and fall of his breathing.

"You know, that's a bit creepy. Just staring at someone." Ayel groggily groaned out. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes. He knew that the Vulcan was torn between hating him and respecting him. He rubbed his neck, not sure what would be welcome to the ambassador. "Uh, I should probably thank you for keeping me from being locked up somewhere...Though, I must ask, why did you do that?"

Sarek took a deep breath, and mulled the thought over. "Even good men can go mad. You were lost and wrongly directed. At the last moment you found your path, I just have given you the opportunity to walk that path. Only you know where it leads." As he stood up, he noticed the humbled expression that settled across the Romulan's feline features. For a brief moment he rested his hand on Ayel's shoulder. "And it was also my way of showing gratitude for saving my son." With that said, Ayel found himself alone once again.


	6. Chapter 6

Two months after being tortured for a week, Spock seemed to be back up and running. Jim wanted to keep an eye on him ever since Old Spock talked him into staying in Starfleet. So he allowed him to be his First Officer. Between Ambassadors "Selek" and Sarek, the two Romulans were allowed to join Starfleet. Nijil turned out to be an energy specialist and showed the Federation how to recrystallize dilithium, not to mention she was good with tools. Scotty took a liking to her almost right away. And Ayel was now considered a Starfleet doctor. McCoy made it so that all he had to do was take a test. They had to share a laugh as the "little pink bladder thing" actually was supposed to be underneath the spleen, not the liver.

Ayel was puttering about in Sickbay when the captain came looking for him. He put his hands up in surrender with a smirk, "Don't shoot."

Jim rolled his eyes, "Smart-ass."

Ayel giggled softly, "Was there something you needed Captain, or were you looking for Bones?"

"Nah, I was actually looking for you. I wanna ask you to do something, a favor of sorts." Ayel gave him a skeptical look. "You have the _Touch_ too, don't you? Just not as strong as he who must not be named, right?"

"I'm not going to violate someone's privacy for your whims, Captain." If looks could kill, Jim would have been a smouldering pile of ash right then.

"I just need to know if Spock is going to be alright. I caught him muttering to himself, like he was a having a conversation with a ghost. Isn't there a nonchalant way of poking about in his head? I'm worried about him."

The Romulan let out a heavy sigh. "My telepathy is weak at best, clumsy and awkward at worst, Jim. Believe me, you are not the only one worried about him."

"I know, I know...Just let me know if you learn anything new, 'kay?" He gave Kirk a sharp nod as an answer and the captain left.

" _Seikkea kllhe_ and damn me to _Areinnye_!" Ayel pound his fist into his desk, a few things fell to the floor. Nurse Chapel came running into his office.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Christine was very worried as he has never once been violent.

"Nero has implanted himself as a _kreldanni aehallh_. He's still tormenting Spock." He sat down heavily in his chair. "I'm not going to like this, but it seems as if I have no choice but to do the 'favor' the captain has asked of me."

Christine gave him a bewildered look, but Ayel said no more on the matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seikkea kllhe~ a curse  
> Areinnye~ Romulan version of hell  
> kreldanni~ akin to "fucking" as an explicative  
> aehallh~ imprint ghost, nightmare of sorts


	7. Chapter 7

"Mr. Scott, would you mind telling me what in the names of the gods is this supposed to be?" Nijil was more than exasperated with Federation warp drives. They wasted more energy than a Klingon wasting food. It made no sense to her.

"Whacha goin' on about there, lass?" Scotty came up and gently set his hand on her shoulder.

"This...this madness you call a warp drive. It's pouring energy out everywhere except where is needs to go. It's no wonder you people cannot go faster than warp five." She huffed and flung her tool across the bay.

"Now, now, lassie," he sat down beside the now pouting Romulan and patted her shoulder, "Ya got ta remember that yer from tha future. I'm sure a lot of things aren't tha same there." He gave her a warm smile that eased some of her frustration. "Why don't we discuss alternatives over some nice big sandwiches, hmm?"

Nijil giggled at him, "You and your sandwiches. Although, that does sound lovely Mr. Scott."

Half-way through discussing singularity cores and eating monstrous subs, Scotty and Nijil were interrupted by one very frazzled looking Christine Chapel.

"Chris! What's the matter?" Nijil shot up and run to her, sandwich forgotten. In the month Nijil had been stationed on the _Enterprise_ , she found a very dear friend in the nurse.

"I'm not sure, Doctor Ayel had a conversation with the captain, and after Jim had left, he...just, well, he just blew up. Something about his brother still torturing poor Mr. Spock, but I don't see how he could do that." Most everything that poured out of her mouth came out in a jumble.

"Chris, I need you to calm down. I know Ayel has a bit of a temper, but he never directs it at people. Just usually furniture. Anyway, did he perhaps say something you didn't understand?"

Christine racked her brain, trying to remember what the words sounded like. Scotty was now standing beside them. "I know the first bit was swearing if judging by his tone was anything, but it was, uh...kr-krel-kreldeni eye-haal, or something like that."

It seemed as if all the color drained from Nijil's face. " _Aehallh_?" Christine nodded and Nijil's hand flew up to her mouth as she sat down on the floor.

Scotty knelt down beside her, "What, what is that? Somethin' bad I'm guessin'."

She nodded slowly as she was trying to regain her senses, " _Aehallh_ is something like a ghost, the rider in the nightmare that leads one to their demise. Only those with the _Touch_ are able to perform the vile deed. It's a splintering of the mind, to take part of your own and place it in anothers. By the gods..."


	8. Chapter 8

Ayel took a deep breath that came out as a drawn-out sigh. "Doc, we're waiting." Jim was starting to get impatient.

He looked up at his captain and gave a curt nod. "This is not easy to explain in Standard," he looked at the young dark-skinned woman sitting at the far end of the conferance table. "Leutenant Uhura, I may need your help."

"I will do my best, Doctor." Uhura was still not sure what to make of the Romulan yet, but she treated him with the utmost respect.

He took a look around at the people gathered, "Some of you already know a little bit about what my brother was," he looked directly at Jim and Bones, "but I might as well start at the beginning for the rest of you. Once, he was a good man, but that changed after the Hobus star went nova. In truth, we all changed. He lost his wife and unborn son when Romulus was destroyed. We had located what was left of our Senate, and after he had discovered how deep their betrayal was...well...that's when he went thoroughly insane. He blamed Ambassador Sp-Selek for not acting soon enough. We engaged him in a brief battle before we both were pulled into the singularity. As you know, the Narada emerged first." Ayel rubbed at his temples for a moment. This wasn't much easier now as it was during his trial. He let out another sigh and continued. "After the Kelvin encounter, our ship was heavily damaged and we drifted into Klingon space where we were boarded and taken prisoner. During our time on Rura Penthe...Nero's insanity deepened. I had not expected him to keep his vow of silence for so long...Anyway, he had started taking this drug. He never really had the Touch until then."

"Excuse me, but vat exactly is zeh Touch?" Ensign Chekov asked the question that the others were wondering themselves.

Nijil, who was sitting beside Ayel, answered. "The Touch is what is left over from our ancient past, before we became seperate from Vulcans. Very few are gifted with the Touch. It's a form of telepathy. Typically very weak." 

Ayel nodded and began to speak again. "I, unfortunatly, was born with it. Most Romulans are... prejugdiced against people like me. My Touch is very erractic and extremely weak. It's closer to empathy than true Touch telepathy." He felt it necessary to explain that, if the wary expressions were anything to go by. "But as I was saying, he never had it until he started the drug. He took it to keep him awake longer and it gave him more strength, at first. Then the Touch awoke in him. The longer he stayed drugged, the stronger it became. For twenty-five years I watched my brother become an absolute monster on Rura Penthe. At one point...he became no longer limited to Touch; he could start projecting his thoughts out to the rest of our crew and others. He was obsessed with revenge. Those of us that tried to talk him out of it...he slaughtered. The rest of this story you know. The escape, the vengence..."

Sulu nudged Scotty in the side, promting another question. "Wha' is _aehallh_ exactly? I got th' impression tha' it's a really bad thing. Like a permant nigh'mare. Can it be undone?"

Once again, Ayel let out a sigh, yet it took him awhile before he spoke up again. He leaned toward Nijil and whispered. " _Arhem partrai hhainein, mrht aei theil emael ghohhai._ "

" _Dhat rhadam vaeha s'tiva gohhai_!" she hissed. " _Dii theil ssuy hhoasl_!"

" _U' arhem ssaed emael neiss elet lyret._ " Nyota's wide-eyed expression was not lost on him, nor the others. "I think I know what to do. And, yes, Mister Scott, it is like a permanent nightmare, only worse." He rubbed at his forehead, "It is a constant waking nightmare, torment that never ceases, that forces you to relive all your traumas at once. It blurs them, makes you forget what really happened,twists them into something far, far worse than reality. And the worst part is, it's not your mind that is twisting the truth...it's Nero's.

"I might, _might_ , be able to fix him. Truth be told, only the _hnoiyika_ that planted the _aehallh_ can remove it. _D'ravsai_ willing, I may be able to."

"Why? Why do you think you can do it if everybody else who has tried, failed?" Nyota was glaring at him.

"Because, Nero and I were twins." Everyone in the room shared the same expression of shock. Twins amonst any Vulcaniod was rare and they were always identical.

"Twins? Fraternal twins?" Bones shook his head at that in disbelief. "Romulan fraternal twins."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Arhem partrai hhainein, mrht aei theil emael ghohhai." ~ "I have an idea, but it may not work."  
> "Dhat rhadam vaeha s'tiva gohhai!" ~ "No person who have done so succeeded!"  
> "Dii theil ssuy hhoasl!" ~ "He may still commit suicide!"  
> "U' arhem ssaed emael neiss elet lyret." ~ "And I will not accept that truth."  
>  hnoiyika ~ a small weasel-like predator   
> D'ravsai ~ Preservers, Great Brothers; ancient species believed to have seeded many forms of intelligent life throughout the galaxy; worshipped as gods in one Rihannsu religion.

**Author's Note:**

> Me and my brain, I have a love/hate relationship with it. I read this one fic that had gore, and brain started going "What if..." and then I had no choice but to write it. I was going to torture Spock (why? I don't know) and then it snowballed into a full fledged story with character development. Enjoy.
> 
> Beta'd by niksthename. Thank you so so much!


End file.
